Press Release
October 17th, 2010
Yellow Crazy Ant Eradication Program Scoops Top Honours at
Banksia Environmental Awards
The Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation’s eradication program for one of the world’s worst
ant pests, the Yellow Crazy Ant, has won Australia’s most prestigious environmental
honour, the Origin Gold Banksia Award.
The Yellow Crazy Ant is an invasive species that has gained a foothold in Arnhem Land
in the Northern Territory, and had the potential to seriously impact natural ecosystems
and agriculture from Broome to the East Coast prior to the program’s intervention.
It’s the first time in the awards 22-year history that an indigenous organisation has won
the top prize. The Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation’s program, run in collaboration with
CSIRO, Rio-Tinto Alcan and the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water,
Population and Communities, was held up by the judging panel as a nationwide model
for effective project collaboration across community, government and the private sector.
Graz van Egmond, Executive Director of the Banksia Environmental Foundation said,
“Common themes and trends that emerged this year include a strong emphasis on
community, government and industry working together to get things done; brilliantly
illustrated by the achievements of the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation project.”
Additional award highlights include Land and Biodiversity award winners ‘Coorong,
Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth’ program, a government/community partnership run by
the Department of Environment & Natural Resources in South Australia to tackle
environmental degradation of the river system due to low water levels.
Russell Seaman, Environmental Manager of the ‘Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray
Mouth’ program
also won the Prime
Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year award for
playing a pivotal role in developing innovative and visionary solutions to tackle the lower
Murray’s issues such as salinity, acidification, soil erosion, loss of habitat and risk to
many species in the region.
The 22 year-old Banksia Awards recognise Australia’s leading environmental or
sustainable initiatives across business, government and community organisations, and
act as a barometer of change across the sustainability landscape.
-ends-
Complete award winners summary available separately.
For further information contact: Robert Marson, Killer Whale, T: 0404 464 902 or
robert@killerwhale.com.au
NEWS 
